Living in Another Language

a travel & adventure blog

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LIAL Reader Survey 2014 RESULTS

Written by: Amanda // Category: Blogging

Thanks for sticking with me the last couple months as you've patiently waited for the reader survey results (I know you're sitting on the edge of your seat and stuff)! I have FINALLY tallied up all the numbers and some things really surprised me! A big thank you to the 250 participants: you have not only made my year, but you have helped me figure out my reader-base that much more. I am eternally grateful! Let's get started: What is your age? Are you male or female? Where are my male readers?! I do for a fact know I have them! Do I? Where are you from? Also had 2.70% from France, 2.70% from Denmark, 2.70% from Belgium, 2.40% from Sweden, 2.40% from Germany and 26 other countries were listed! Wow! I never realized how broad of an ... Read More

Travel Blogging + Marriage

Written by: Amanda // Category: Blogging, Travel Blogging

It's a rainy cold Friday afternoon, and I'm sitting here covered in blankets drinking spiked coffee; just your normal afternoon if you asked me. Some readers may get tricked into thinking I'm living back in the Northern Hemisphere where it is, indeed, almost winter. But nope, I'm sitting here in Spring/Summer New Zealand (which does not at all feel like Christmas)  watching the rain change from water to ice…to back to water again. Apparently we had this weather in for us after making the choice to live so far down south, but honestly we weren't even thinking about the weather when we chose this location. My only hope is that it's just the rainy season here and that sunshine and rainbows soon take over this cold mess of a month. We've had ... Read More

LIAL Reader Survey 2014

Written by: Amanda // Category: Blogging

I mentioned a few posts ago that I am changing Living in Another Language to be a more travel-focused blog. My hope is to encourage, inspire, and help answer questions to those that are interested in life abroad. My readers (hey that's you) are very important to me, and I want to hear from you about what you're interested in. I've been weighing my options and reading the comments on my blog, and I think the best thing for me to do right now is to have a reader survey! 99% of the survey questions below are multiple choice, so it'll take you about two and thirty seconds flat  (I did not test this) to complete the form, and I will be eternally grateful! As I see my readership grow, it's harder to know where you all are from, what your ... Read More

The 5 Types of Travel Bloggers

Written by: Amanda // Category: Blogging, Travel, Travel Blogging

Travel blogging is a tricky industry. I'm realizing there's no cut-and-dry way to travel blog, except for the fact that it's important you get pretty pictures and information out there for readers to wanderlust at. There are solo travelers, couple travelers, and family travelers. There are those that do it for fun and some that do it as a living. But one of my favorite things to figure out while discovering new travel bloggers, is learning what their travel blogging lifestyle is. This can be tricky, especially since the internet allows us to paint pictures of ourselves in basically whatever way we want. Here are the 5 types of travel bloggers I have discovered in my ventures with blogging. In no way, shape, or form are these true ... Read More

Travel Blogging Isn’t for the Faint of Heart

Written by: Amanda // Category: Blogging, Travel, Travel Blogging

Alternate Title: 'The Daunting Task of Travel Blogging.' Travel Blogging: Braving the obvious obstacle of traveling the world into unfamiliar lands, trying to find internet, and spending those few and far between moments to pump out quality, informational posts for readers; sometimes I'm not sure why we even bother to do it. Travel blogging is one of the most overlooked blogging categories (apparently it wasn't even a good enough category for Bloglovin's annual awards), but I'm hoping that will change as people are starting look more into world awareness, curious to see what's out there beyond the big blue ocean. Sure as an outsider travel blogging may seem super glamorous, but it has it's dark side. Before you consider taking the ... Read More

7 Tips to Help You Grow Your Instagram

Written by: Amanda // Category: Blogging, travel tips

Instagram is a social networking powerhouse. Created in October of 2010, it's become one of the most popular social networking companies today. If you haven't started an Instagram account and you're wanting to get serious about building your brand as a travel blogger (or any other kind of blogger), I'd suggest getting on it now. Not only will Instagram bring traffic to your blog, but businesses have been known scout Instagram users to offer opportunities and free stuff ! I know a couple travel bloggers that had media trip opportunities (aka your job is to take pictures and review all aspects of your trip) just because of their Instagram following. My Instagram feed is a constant work in progress, but using these tips below has allowed me ... Read More

Belated Blogiversary

Written by: Amanda // Category: Blogging

My second year blogiversary hit February 16th. However I was also approaching a very big milestone in the blogging world: 1 million page views. I decided to wait until that hit to celebrate my second year of blogging, and reflect (with a thankful spirit) on how this blog baby of mine his exceeded my expectations by a million (stupid pun intended) within one year of moving to wordpress.org. We hit the 1,000,000 view today! I'm still in shock about how my little travel blog, built to keep my family in touch with us while we're off traveling the world, has turned into such a big network of support. This post is all about you and how you've helped me reach this insane goal. These stats below are as of April 20, 2013-April 22, 2014 (when ... Read More

Blogging 101: When Blogging isn’t Fun Anymore

Written by: Amanda // Category: Blogging

Trust me. It' happens to the best of us. You'll be typing along in your own merry little world when BAM it hits you. Blogging becomes a chore. Comments have gotten out of control (and maybe even down nasty). Your 'numbers' are taking a nose dive and it seems like no-one really even cares. So why continue blogging? Well here's why. 1. Answer the question: Why did you start blogging in the first place? Odds are you've lost touch with the real reason you started blogging. You've gotten so caught up in the giveaways, the link-ups, the comment driven posts that you've forgotten about what you really wanted to do with your blog. Did you start writing as a way to express what's going on in your life? Were you blogging to help keep in touch with ... Read More

I Need Your Questions!

Written by: Amanda // Category: Blogging

I don't know about you guys, but I'm slowly, ever slowly crawling out of my Thanksgiving feast stupor. It's pathetic really. Derik and I made our Thanksgiving meal on Sunday and there was not a trace of Korean food to be found on our table. We had ham, mashed potatoes, rolls, creamed corn, and peas. Let's not forget that delicious apple pie we bought from Costco (which I've been munching on religiously the past few days). The stupid thing was, I only ate half a plate. I guess my body isn't used to such 'rich,' 'American' food, and I filled up rather quickly. Queue my husband making fun of me the rest of the night. Believe me, I was equally as shocked. That being said, I'm kicking it into high gear this month (what it's December already), ... Read More

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Currently on Instagram

Our adventures may be few and far between nowadays Our adventures may be few and far between nowadays, but the ones we get to take are oh so sweet. 

My daughters are now 2.5 years and 6 months old. Life never slows down, but only gets faster with each day we’re blessed to live. Social media may not be a part of my life how it used to be, and instead I’m working on living life intentionally each day as we raise our girls during these crazy times. 💕
2020 has been a year has it not? As much as I love 2020 has been a year has it not? As much as I love social media, I found myself taking a break as the things we were all going through made social media so insignificant to me. 

In January/February I had a miscarriage. It was a horrible way to start the year, and little did I know it was just the beginning of it all. 

Even with the loss, hardship of moving back to the US in the middle of a global pandemic, and navigating our new lives here, we were given many blessings. The greatest of those was finding out I was pregnant again in March.

It’s a scary time to be pregnant right now, especially after a miscarriage, because doctors visits are very minimal. Also, Derik was never able to come to a single visit. I was terrified something would happen and I would be told bad news and have to face that alone. But God was gracious to us. 

We kept our special little secret to ourselves, and it wasn’t until our third trimester before we told immediate family and close friends. My pregnancy was very private for me, and a special time to bond closely with the babe growing inside me.

Our sweet little girl arrived November 30, and yes I had to deliver with a mask on, but she is perfect and I truly feel our family is complete. 💕🌈
 
“When a rainbow appears, it doesn’t mean the storm never happened or that we are not still dealing with its aftermath. It means something beautiful and full of light has appeared in the midst of the darkness and clouds. Storm clouds may still hover but the rainbow provides a counterbalance of color, energy, and hope.”
I am in love. As I’m sure every other plant/mons I am in love. As I’m sure every other plant/monstera collector is when you get to behold such a beauty in real life. If there were ever #plantgoals, this is it. 

Since moving from Germany, it has been a long and slow process getting our life back to normal. All of our belongings have yet to arrive so we’ve literally been camping in our house on an air bed and camping chairs for two months. 😂 All that to say, having to start my plant collection over again here stateside has been so much fun! I will miss the plant prices if Germany, but the selection here blows my mind. Anyone else obsessed? We’ve lived here for almost 8 weeks now and I already have 11 plants 😂😬😬😬. I don’t have a bed or a couch, but by golly I have greenery. 😂🤦🏼‍♀️🌱
Oh my heart. I’ve been trying to figure out the Oh my heart.

I’ve been trying to figure out the words to say about our time in Germany, but my fingers can’t seem to type out how to express my love, gratefulness, thankfulness, sadness, and heartbreak I feel about leaving. Every country we’ve lived in has taught us something and has given us so many beautiful memories, as well as opened our eyes a little more to different cultures and ways of living.

But Germany was special. The first time we stepped foot into Germany was in 2015, and we loved it so much we stayed the extent of our travel visa (3 months). I was able to visit again in 2016, and then we officially packed everything and moved in 2017. Germany has always had my heart: the people, the festivals, the food, wine and beer, the immaculate home landscaping, and even all the rules that every resident is just expected to follow to a tee (like recycling every tiny scrap of trash). Our family grew from two to three while in Germany. Bringing our daughter into the world, and raising her for a year and a half in a different culture, will be one of the most beautiful memories of my life.

Our move was impacted by the COVID pandemic, and it took three long months of delays, red tape, and countless phone calls to get everything together so we could actually get on a plane and have our stuff packed and shipped to our new home. 
I am breathing a sigh of relief to know all the stress of everything is over and our new adventure can begin. I am mourning the loss of leaving Germany. I am in a weird transition right now trying to grasp it all, but here we are jumping into new things head first! We are back in the US for a while, in the beautiful state of Tennessee, and look forward to many new memories, travels, friends, and being able to spend time with family! 
Photos from my sweet and talented friend @juliejayphotos
I feel like I failed hard this year at Christmas m I feel like I failed hard this year at Christmas markets. We went to a total of ONE market, which is exactly 19 less than I told myself I would go to this year to make up for not going to any the year before 🤦🏼‍♀️(I was 40 weeks pregnant and not feeling crowds). I will say, it was a great one and the weather was so nice, we stayed out until the market shut down.

If there’s one thing I will miss most about Germany when it is our time to move, will be the sheer enthusiasm this country has for Christmas, and I’m not talking about consumerism. Food, laughter, friends, family, music, dancing: celebration. Also, Germany shuts down for not only one day, but THREE. Stores are closed, mail is not delivered, people aren’t out and about. Everyone is home enjoying time with family, and I love it. However, I may have gone into full blown panic mode Christmas Eve when I realized I had a total of 8 diapers to get us through until the 27th. 👀
We spent Thanksgiving back in North America: Whist We spent Thanksgiving back in North America: Whistler, Canada! A 10 hour flight from Germany , and I can’t say this one was better than the one we took over the summer on our trip to Alaska, but we survived! Entertaining a 11 month old for that long is much harder than a 6 month old, especially when they aren’t into sleeping on the plane AT ALL. 🤪

Whistler was beautiful despite the lack of snow, and we enjoyed our time with family, the delicious food, and as much sightseeing as one could do with a jet-lagged baby. 
This was actually my first trip to Canada ever, (unless you want to count the move my parents took up to Alaska from Arkansas when I was two. 😂🤷‍♀️ ) and I loved it! We would really like to take a big Canadian road trip someday and explore more of the country! 😍😍🇨🇦
Being a mama may mean I don’t always have time t Being a mama may mean I don’t always have time to put myself together, but I would rather spend the extra moments making special memories with our daughter that she can cherish forever. I doubt that she will look at this picture and see a tired, messy haired mama that’s barely had time to wash her face nevermind carefully apply makeup, but am hoping she will see a mama that never tires of carrying and cuddling her, or sharing new experiences with her. 💕
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